Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1887-06-17
EviC1IONS IN IRELAND.
Statements Madc by Irish Constn-
bles who Recently Resigned from
the Force

l
horrible enough; but when these tales com
direct from the lips Of men who have been eye
witnesses to the occurrences which they mar
rate the wondering query comes to the listen
er: or what material Is these Landlords
made, A World reporter talked for al
hour with three of the twelve men who arrive,
in New York the other day, having resi- gnet
their positions In the Royal Irish constabularl
because they could no longer stand the sick
bning scenes they were forced to take part II
as guardians Of the sheriffs and balifrs while
engaged In coercng the starving tenant
farmers and turning them out of their homes.
The men were James McNulty, Andrew Nc.
Intee, aud John o'Rourke, three fine speci-
mems OF sturdy young manhood, intelligent
and fnll Of earnest feelings.
They told Of the way in which the con-
stabulary were distributed all over Ireland,
compelled to be always ready at the beck or
nod of the sheriff or the bailiff to
march to the work Of spollation. The consta-
buary are held at stations few miles apart
throughout the Island, eight or ten men usu-
ally at each station, although sometimes there
are many more, and the only work that they
are called upon to do is that which the sheriffs
and the bailiffs provide for them But they
are kept busy, very busy, for the landlord mill
never ceases its grinding. ut would seem
that In former years there must have been
some little spark Of pity In the heart OF
the landlord" said McNulty, 'for II
| Is only within the last six or seven years that
things have come to the dreadful state that
they are In at present But eacl. year seems
to be worse than the one preceding. and God
knows what viii happen II the awful work
| goes on. There is no profit at all In the farm
ing. All that man can hope to do by his
utmost toll is barely to keep body and soul to-
gether in himself and family. II hc falls the
least behind in his rent the ballifYs are upon
him at once and his cattle-frequently 1t is
| only single cow-are seized upon and car
fied of. Then, II his land be left to him, It
| Is only that he may grow a crop for the land
| lord for II he plucks up heart enough to till
the soil down comes the sheriff upon him as
| soon AS the crop is grown, his little effccts-a
stool or two, perhaps table and bed--sTe
| flung out upon the roadside, can OF coal oil
is scattered over the hut that gave him shell
| ter, the match is applied, and there he Is with
his helpless ones, with no roof to cover them
and no morsel Of food to stay the cravings OF
hunger,
"What does he dol Oh, well, neighbor
| will, II he can, let him sleep night or two In
an clubhouse with the pigs and the cattle,
but what he Is ultimately forced to do Is to
take to the hedge, throw few sticks together,
and crawl under, with tho earth for bed.
Then his wife and children and himself must
go from house to house, getting morsel OF
hara nd tbara tal
bors who can poorly spare even that morsel,
but who are always ready to divide the last
crust with those who are still more unfortu-
nate than themselves The aged, the sick,
the young-none are spared, and Ii Is no un.
common thing for man, woman or child to
lie upon the roadside within twenty-four
hours OF their heartless eviction.
Just how flendlsh the thing is" said Nc
lntee, ''may be judged from the fact that
hundreds and sometimes even thousands Of
pounds are squandered in cases where the ap-
parent purpose is to collect few paltry pounds
of rent, but where there is no expectation of
accomplishing anything but the ousting of
he tenant and the destruction of his rude
shelter. Why there was an illustration OF
hat recently at Donegal, where g600 we're
spent to evict for back rental OF els. Only
six weeks ago there was a case at Dingle,
County Kerry, where twelve families owed an
average OF 96 each. / was one OF party of
one hundred men who were sent there and
Kept there for a fortnight. The people could
not pay because the land was so barren It
wouldn't produce anything. The people Of
that whole section were In a most deplorable
state. ] saw about two thousand Of the in.
habitants, and out Of the whole lot there
weren't twenty who had pair Of boots on.
We had TO divide with them the lunches we
carried In our haversacks When we got a
cnance we would slip BIT to them and they
would devour 1t ravenously. / saw widow
whose child was very sick go TO the landlord
and beg for Gods sake 10 be allowed TO remain
a few days till the child improved but the an.
swer was, mo, not II you were my own
mother.p
''But speaking Of the great sums OF, money
that are thus expended TO effect such
purposes, they have all to be paid by the peo-
pie themselves in the form OF police tax
Such occurrences as these are not unusual
They happen every day from one end Of Ire
land to the other. Indeed, the people are so
accustomed TO them that they have actually
forgotten to be shocked by them. But al
though every case is bad enough, we now and |
then saw cases, the circumstances attending |
which were enough TO melt heart OF o rock. |
Sometimes the police get permission 10 sub |
scribe to a purse to save the evicted family |
from starvation. 1t was not long ago that "a |
woman named Monahsn was being put out at |
Csuickmore Cross. She was very feeble, and |
had family Of small children, one Of them |
being sick. There was an old broken pot |
lying along side the house, and as the men |
iled by they each dropped what they could
into II, and the priest took 1t up and carried
Il to the woman, adding his own mite to II.
But we might go on and give you such in.
stances by the score.
"If ID wasn't for the boys and girls who |
come out here to America and send back home
all that they can save things would be much
worse than they are. But 1t seems a shame
hat this money should 60 over there, for every
sent of it goes into the pockets of the landlords
remember one woman about TO be evicted
sho pleaded very hard for time enough 10
write 10 America 10 her son. This boon was
granted TO her, and she must have deemed
herself very fortunate indeed, because 1t was
great act Of indulgence.
ORourke told Of an early morning trip he
bad taken With force Of constabulary to